CHARLESTON -- A study from the Medical University of South Carolina, published in the November 2007 issue of The Journal of Pediatrics, demonstrated that in relation to other professional values, future pediatricians underestimate the importance of teaching and research in their careers.

For the nation's families, that could mean fewer pediatric specialists to care for children and researchers to make and apply important discoveries.

This finding about the lack of value placed on scholarly pursuits could have significant workforce implications in terms of those willing and available to conduct important pediatric research or teach subsequent generations of pediatricians.

The results speak largely about female pediatricians and their values, as females accounted for more than 70 percent of pediatric residencies in 2002, and their numbers continue to climb.

"The findings of this study are sounding alarm bells because we have an unprecedented number of basic research discoveries and new therapies that are ready for testing to improve children's lives," said Dr. Bernie Maria, MUSC Darby Children's Research Institute executive director and principal investigator of the study. "Although doing research may be more important to established doctors, the low value placed on scholarship, especially among women entering the field of pediatrics, is problematic. We must do a better job of mentoring talented young investigators so children can benefit fully from today's research."

Study participants included recently graduated medical students registered to use the Careers in Medicine Web site, operated by the

Association of American Medical Colleges, who chose pediatrics as their specialty and who had been in residency training for two years or less. The sample was also representative of the increased number of women going into pediatrics, as 73 percent of the respondents were women. Participants completed the Physician Values in Practice Scale.

The scale is a measure of personal values related to the practice of medicine that includes prestige, service, autonomy, lifestyle, management and scholarly pursuits.

When compared to service, prestige, management and scholarly pursuits, autonomy and lifestyle were the top-ranked values overall among medical students from all disciplines. Similar to other disciplines, future pediatricians see freedom, independence, control over clinical decision making and work-life balance as most important.

At the national level, Dr. George Richard, director of the AAMC Careers in Medicine Program and a facilitator of the study, sees the paradox created by what is valued most by future pediatricians when compared with what is needed to maintain and advance the pediatrics field.

"Medical students need to find a place in the world of work where they can function most effectively," he said. "Our research points to some of the important factors that help them do that, while at the same time informing educators about the impact of the environment on the ability to reach one's full potential."

The authors suggest several factors for the gap between the value placed on scholarship by tomorrow's academic pediatricians and the need for more teachers and researchers in pediatrics. Low numbers of women in academic leadership roles may add to students' perceptions that scholarship and academic medicine pursuits are of less importance to future pediatricians. Additionally, residents' current role models may underestimate the importance of scholarship in environments where clinical quotas are stressed before research experience.

"In addition to understanding value differences between men and women entering different fields of medicine, we will now examine generational differences in values, because older generations have the responsibility to prepare this new wave of young physicians and to close gaps in projected workforce shortages in pediatrics and other fields of medicine," Maria said.

• Special to The T&D

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